CLIMATE SCIENCE

Among all the statistics about temperature increase, polar melting and sea level rise associated with a warming world, the impact on hundreds of millions of people forced to leave their homes due to climate change is often not fully considered. But the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental body set up in the early[continue reading…]

Global wheat yields are likely to fall significantly as climate change takes hold, new research has shown . The researchers found that wheat production would fall by 6% for every 1C increase in temperatures. The world is now nearly certain to warm by up to 2C compared with pre-industrial levels, with political efforts concentrated on[continue reading…]

(Reuters) – Greenhouse gas emissions by the world’s top 500 companies rose 3.1 percent from 2010 to 2013, far off the cuts urged by the United Nations to limit global warming, a study showed on Monday. The top 500 firms by capitalization accounted for 13.8 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions and 28 percent of[continue reading…]

Early data has come in from the first satellite dedicated to monitoring levels of carbon dioxide in the air – with some surprising results. The patch of dense carbon dioxide above China was to be expected, as factories churn out emissions. But the biggest swathes of red – signifying a high concentration of the greenhouse[continue reading…]

The recovery of the ozone layer – the shield that protects life on Earth from harmful levels of ultraviolet rays – would come sooner if we were to fast-track the elimination of the production of the ozone-depleting substance (ODS)hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and manage otherODSs that remain in equipment, building walls and chemical stockpiles, according to the[continue reading…]

In a recent policy dialogue held in Kolkata, representatives of four countries of the eastern Himalayas and the neighbourhood have stressed on the need to include the value of natural capital in national accounts. The dialogue, titled ‘Natural Capital for Inclusive Growth: Options and Tools for South Asia’, brought together more than 40 senior policy[continue reading…]

Tribune News Service: Climate changes such as less snowfall and temperature fluctuations seem to be taking their toll on apple production in Uttarakhand. Apple farmers in the higher reaches of the state are shifting to other fruits such as peach and plum that require lesser cold conditions. More than 98 per cent of the country’s[continue reading…]

Tropical rainforests do more than just soak up carbon dioxide and renew atmospheric oxygen, they affect the weather in the rest of the world as well. And if the Amazon rainforest disappeared, the US Midwest could begin to dry up during the growing season. In what is claimed as the most comprehensive analysis to date,[continue reading…]

Climate change impacts will require major but very uncertain transformations of global agriculture systems by mid-century, according to new research from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. Climate change will require major transformations in agricultural systems, including increased irrigation and moving production from one region to another, according to the new study, published in[continue reading…]

The 8th edition of Climate Action, supported by UNEP, was launched at COP20 in Lima last week with ministers of environment, heads of key UN bodies and leaders of the world’s top NGO’s participating. The publication was first launched in Bali for the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2007 (COP13) as a platform for[continue reading…]

Cutting down rainforest has long been known to release carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming. It also has direct impacts on rainfall and temperature, US researchers have found, which could wreak havoc with farming worldwide. In the Amazon, deforestation is already shifting once-predictable rainfall patterns, a report published in Nature Climate Change on Thursday showed.[continue reading…]

Last week’s climate conference in Lima ended with countries agreeing to a framework for setting national pledges to be submitted next year. Although viewed by some as a compromise, the Lima agreement sets the stage for a global deal when the Paris climate conference is held in 2015. How much investment would be needed to[continue reading…]

Yet another depressing charade played out at Lima, Peru, where the 20th conference of the parties (COP) to the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded on December 14, with a 43-page negotiating text, with several alternative formulations for virtually every provision. It is unlikely that, within the deadline set by the Paris COP[continue reading…]

The annual United Nations climate summit of 194 nations finally finished in overtime on Sunday. The modest agreement reached averted the talks’ collapse and keeps the process alive. However, while a deal was concluded, including agreement for the first time that all countries (not just developed states) must cut greenhouse gas emissions, many of the hard[continue reading…]

On Sunday, two days into overtime after a fortnight of talks that at one point seemed almost on the verge of collapse, some 190 countries agreed on the building blocks of a new-style global deal, due in 2015, to combat the phenomenon. China and India, which had expressed concern over earlier drafts of the deal[continue reading…]

A coalition launched today at the climate talks in Lima aims to boost efforts to save billions of dollars and billions of tonnes of CO2 emissions each year by measuring and reporting reductions of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from projects and programmes that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency in developing countries. The 1 Gigaton[continue reading…]

While Sunday’s global climate agreement in Lima made only incremental progress to prevent dangerous global warming, economic growth is getting less dependent on polluting activities. Emissions from fossil fuel use and industrial sources increased to a record 35.3 billion tonnes in 2013, PBL revealed – 2% higher than 2012. That is a smaller rise than[continue reading…]

The experts from the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW), Global Water Partnership and CARICOM also called for water managers to build on their local innovations for climate resilience – and to get savvier about communicating solutions to policy-makers. The event was an opportunity to learn about common problems and possible solutions across Africa, Central[continue reading…]

The economic and social benefits of mangroves – which are estimated to run into the hundreds of billions worldwide – remain largely untapped due to a lack of carbon finance mechanisms, appropriate policy interventions, and rapid mangrove deforestation, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report launched today at the 20th Conference of[continue reading…]

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The Pathways to Resilience in Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE) countries have poor healthcare and educational conditions and high population growth, poverty and urbanisation rates. Rural-urban migration is becoming one of the most obvious factors induced by climate change, which is profoundly changing the society as whole in Pakistan. These views were expressed by speakers at a[continue reading…]

Environment and food security experts have said that better water management is essential to ensure food security in South Asia. They were speaking at a panel on “Water and Food Security in South Asia in the Era of Climate Change” as part of the three-day “Pathways to Sustainable Development” conference, organised by the Sustainable Development[continue reading…]

Reuters: Hundreds of companies in developing countries that invested in projects to generate UN-backed carbon credits had hoped the Lima climate talks would yield measures boosting the price of the credits, but they are likely to be disappointed. Negotiators and carbon market experts say that discussions at the UN climate conference have not seriously addressed[continue reading…]

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AFP/ec: Environment ministers from around the world face mounting time pressure on Thursday (Dec 11) to shape a blueprint for a global pact on climate change with ground-breaking carbon curbs at its core. There are concerns over an unwieldy draft text, intended to guide negotiations that by Dec 2015 must forge the most ambitious environmental[continue reading…]

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The Centre on Monday admitted for the first time that hydropower projects had “direct and indirect impact in the aggravation of floods” that hit Uttarakhand in 2013, killing hundreds and leaving thousands homeless. It also said that the projects caused “irreversible damage” to the environment and enhanced landslides and other disasters. Filing its affidavit in[continue reading…]

The recently-decided plan to go for a massive increase in solar power generation in the country will figure prominently in the statement of Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar when he tells the delegates at the Lima climate conference about the steps India is taking to combat climate change. Only last month, the government decided that it[continue reading…]

(IPS) – Packed into stifling meeting rooms in the Peruvian capital, delegates from 195 countries are trying to find a path that would make it possible for the planet to reach climate neutrality in the second half of this century – the only way to avoid irreversible damage, scientists warn. Climate neutrality is defined as[continue reading…]

The countries of South Asia need to stand together in their efforts to push for more finance from the developed world to help them adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change, a prominent regional expert says. Saleemul Huq, from Bangladesh, a lead negotiator for the group of Least Developed Countries told a fringe meeting[continue reading…]

Protecting biodiversity may be crucial for successfully storing carbon in forests, scientists say. A recent publication on Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation suggests that biodiversity loss –especially through hunting – will hinder the success of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) projects. As an initiative to combat climate change by storing[continue reading…]

The UN secretary general has ruled out any immediate cut in the number of proposed sustainable development goals with the launch on Thursday of his synthesis report, The Road to Dignity by 2030 (pdf). In the report, Ban Ki-moon reaffirmed the 17 goals and 169 targets proposed by the UN open working group that will[continue reading…]

The 20th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP20) is under way in Lima. Parties will continue discussions on their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) under the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) in preparation for the post-2020 agreement in Paris next year. Optimism[continue reading…]

Hydro Infra Technologies (HIT), a Swedish clean tech company based in Stockholm, has developed an innovative patent pending approach for neutralizing carbon fuel emissions by generating a novel gas called Hydro Nano Gas (HNG). In spite of all the advancement happening in the energy sector, global economies are still dependent on fossil fuels as the[continue reading…]

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As diplomats in Lima work towards a global deal to combat climate change, oil industry representatives are taking comfort from the slow pace of talks. Analysts say an effective deal to limit dangerous global warming would slash demand for fossil fuels and the value of oil companies. Earlier this week, the Bank of England launched[continue reading…]

Over the past four years the “emissions gap” series published by the United Nations Environment Programme has analysed the size of the gap and has provided insights on options to close it. This fifth report provides an updated measure of the emissions gap. In addition, this year’s update of the analysis calculates an emissions gap[continue reading…]

The Guardian: Adapting to a warmer world will cost hundreds of billions of dollars and up to three times as much as previous estimates, even if global climate talks manage to keep temperature rises below dangerous levels, warns a report by the UN. The first United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) ‘Adaptation Gap Report’ shows a[continue reading…]

The world must accept that India’s per capita carbon emissions will need to rise rapidly if it is to eliminate poverty, the environment minister said on Friday, as delegates meet in Lima for key UN climate change talks. India, the world’s third largest carbon emitter, is under growing pressure to set out a strategy to[continue reading…]

In terms of climate change, youth are the future, and therefore will see the worsening of climate impacts. We will see sea level rising, ecosystems changing, populations moving. We will be the ones to feel its impacts on economy and society: we will fear for our children, for our jobs, and for our lives. Without[continue reading…]

As the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, China is critical to the success of international efforts to tackle climate change. When softly spoken lead negotiator Su Wei held a press briefing on day four of UN climate talks in Lima, journalists hung on his every word. China will publish its national contribution “if not in[continue reading…]

The indicators to measure the success of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were an afterthought devised by UN officials “in a dark room in New York and thrust down countries’ throats” and, as such, were a lost opportunity, says Guido Schmidt-Traub, executive director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). To ensure the[continue reading…]

The highest point on South Tarawa, the capital island of Kiribati, survives behind a wall of sandbags and rock. It lies so close to the sea that one of the agile kids who make up almost half the population could leap from the top and land in the water three metres below. Across the Pacific[continue reading…]

At Tuesday’s Lima COP20 meeting, the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action opened its 13th session. The main event of the day, this ADP meeting started off with the preparations for next year’s Paris agreement. Co-chair Kishan Kumarsingh opened the main plenary of the Lima COP20 with negotiations on the[continue reading…]

Extreme poverty and the impacts of climate change, which already affect many millions of people worldwide, can be overcome by far-sighted, joined-up action on both at once, the Development and Climate Days event at UN climate talks in Peru will hear. The heads of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, the International Institute for[continue reading…]

AFP/ir/ec: To fresh warnings and appeals to seize the political momentum, UN talks opened in Lima on Monday (Dec 1) tasked with drawing the outlines of a 2015 deal to roll back climate change. Gathering 195 states, the 12-day meeting also has to agree on the pact’s heart – a format for nations to make[continue reading…]

One hundred and ninety-five nations have committed to finalising a new climate pact in Paris by 2015’s end. The process has been boosted by recent developments, including a joint announcement on cutting carbon by the US and China. The two weeks of discussions have started amid record-breaking global temperatures for the year to date. According[continue reading…]

India’s populous coastal cities Mumbai and Kolkata are most vulnerable to loss of life and properties due to coastal flooding in the second half of the century, the government has said quoting a UN report ahead of a key global climate conference in Peruvian capital Lima. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned[continue reading…]

1. (Regional Cooperation): The Heads of State or Government expressed their strong determination to deepen regional integration for peace, stability and prosperity in South Asia by intensifying cooperation, inter alia, in trade, investment, finance, energy, security, infrastructure, connectivity and culture; and implementing projects, programmes and activities in a prioritised, result-oriented and time-bound manner. 2. (South[continue reading…]

India’s environment court has slammed the government over the capital’s horrendous air pollution, which it said was “getting worse” every day, and ordered a string of measures to bring it down. The National Green Tribunal directed all vehicles older than 15 years be taken off New Delhi roads, pollution checks undertaken for all state-run buses[continue reading…]

In these times of global warming, it is a well-known fact that the sea levels of the Earth’s oceans are rising due to melting icebergs and glaciers and thermal expansion due to ocean warming caused by the heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases. A new study by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)[continue reading…]

Schemes to tackle climate change could prove disastrous for billions of people, but might be required for the good of the planet, scientists say. That is the conclusion of a new set of studies into what’s become known as geo-engineering. This is the so far unproven science of intervening in the climate to bring down[continue reading…]

The world community has agreed a global warming limit of holding warming below 2C above preindustrial levels. Small island states and the least developed countries have called for warming to be brought back to below 1.5 by 2100. The 1.5C warming limit is now under review for consideration next year by the UN’s climate body[continue reading…]

South Asia has 1.7 billion people, of which more than 70 per cent live in poverty. Despite having tremendous natural resource base such as water, minerals, forest, productive fertile land and industrious people, this region remains underdeveloped primarily due to political instability, poor leadership, inability to utilize natural resources at optimum level and frequent disasters.[continue reading…]

AUSTRALIAN politics has been more influenced by the climate debate than any other country. Yet Australia is responsible for only 1.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions. Perhaps this speaks of Australia’s extraordinary commitment to the international community. Yet Australia has threatened to hobble its own economy while much larger ­nations take a pass while[continue reading…]

Meteorologists worried at the depletion of glaciers in Pakistan studied six glaciers in the Karakorum Range recently, and the results have made them worry even more. “All of them were found melting at a faster rate. The changing climate is taking a heavy toll on our glaciers,” Chief Meteorologist of Pakistan Met Department (PMD) Dr[continue reading…]

Next December, 196 nations will meet in Paris to agree a course of action to respond to climate change. They will do so under the auspices of the UN framework convention on climate change. This is an international treaty negotiated at the Earth summit in Rio in 1992 with the objective to “stabilise greenhouse gas[continue reading…]

The Nepal Unit of the Nature–Human Centric Peoples Movement is going to organize a global conference 2016 in Nepal. General Secretary at Nepal Unit, Dindaya Rijal, informed that the conference will discuss climate change effects, global warming, widening gulf between the rich and poor, unemployment, corruption, rule of law, and nuclear reactor. Before this, many[continue reading…]

Foresters may be guardians of the planet, but they may need to think about more than just the forests to reduce the threats from climate change. New research suggests that a policy that protects the planet’s forests from fire and the chainsaw must also deliver new ways of stopping the spread of agriculture into other[continue reading…]

Despite a bitter U.S. cold snap, the globe is rushing hell-bent toward its warmest year on record with last month setting the fifth monthly heat record of the year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that last month was the hottest October on record worldwide. The 58.43 degrees Fahrenheit (14.74 Celsius) beat out[continue reading…]

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PTI: Nearly one lakh premature deaths take place annually due to air pollution in India and some other countries which can be avoided by 2030 by improving energy efficiency measures in transport and industrial sectors, a UN report today said. The fifth Emissions Gap Report 2014 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which was[continue reading…]

The Guardian: The world must cut CO2 emissions to zero by 2070 at the latest to keep global warming below dangerous levels and prevent a global catastrophe, the UN warns. By 2100, all greenhouse gas emissions – including methane, nitrous oxide and ozone, as well as CO2 – must fall to zero, the United Nationals[continue reading…]

Pollution is still rising despite world pledges to cut carbon emissions, and more action is needed to rein in climate change in the coming years, a United Nations (UN) report said Wednesday. The Emissions Gap report is the fifth yearly analysis that examines how countries are doing and lays out the path toward keeping the[continue reading…]

(Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When U.S. President Barack Obama announced a $3 billion pledge to a new international climate change fund, he made a point of highlighting how the money would help poor countries hit by worsening extreme weather and rising seas. Climate change adaptation – measures that protect people and assets, such as early[continue reading…]

Why Mountains are Important

Disaster in Indian Himalayas

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Climate Himalaya team is not responsible for the content taken from external websites. It is a voluntary initiative of PRAKRITI group that has registration number- 401/1998-99/11906D (10/2014-2015) with Government of Uttarakhand in India. The initiative is financially supported by PRAKRITI group.